You got the interview: Now what's the right way to use a follow-up letter?

Q: Many job candidates send a letter to an employer after they are interviewed. It reconfirms their interest in the job and, if written well, helps keep them toward the top of the list. How should you handle a follow-up letter?

Nick's reply: Anyone who believes there's no need to send a follow-up letter after a job interview is kidding himself. The personal touch still counts enormously in business, perhaps because so much communication today is done informally. (Would your boss let you submit a sales proposal to a prospective customer via text message or even on the phone?)

Sending a follow-up letter is a good idea, but it's up to you to decide when is the best time to send it. Trust your judgment. My advice would be to send it to the manager you'd work for if you were hired, right after you've met with him. He's the person you need to impress with your value and with your motivation. Notes to the personnel office are nice, but it's the manager who matters most.

Typically, people send brief thank-you letters. A letter of substance is preferable. The key to that letter is value. Your value. Briefly discuss how you would fit into the business, and how your interests and abilities would profit the company. Try to talk a bit like an employee in that letter, rather than as an applicant. Show the manager that after the interview, you're still thinking about his business and about the job. Just be careful not to overstate your case.

There are a few cautions worth discussing, because if you go overboard the manager might take your comments the wrong way.

1. Be judicious when communicating your value. Remember that some managers might feel threatened by too much "value" in your presentation. Be careful not to come across as a know-it-all.

2. Balance your work skills with your ability to work with others. If you suggest ideas that might be foreign to the manager and his team, temper your enthusiasm by stating that your ideas would be useful only if they fit the manager's own methods and processes. Suggest how the team might use your expertise without suggesting that they lack expertise of their own.

3. Be diplomatic. Avoid expressions like "I can solve your problems" or "the best way to do this is ..." It may seem obvious, but it's easy to fall into the self-aggrandizement trap. You may be the best solution but the manager needs to feel that's his conclusion, not yours.

So how do you go about communicating your value in a follow-up letter without risking going too far?

Pretend you're sitting around a conference table with the manager's entire team. All eyes are on you. Your presentation will determine whether these folks decide to add you to their roster. Batter up. How would you present yourself? How would you articulate your ideas in that setting? Do you want to whack one out of the park, or hit a ground-roll double to knock in a runner who is already on base?

That's how you want to come across in an effective follow-up letter. But there is no doubt that you should write one.

Copyright 2009. Distributed by Universal Press Syndicate

Nick Corcodilos is author of "Ask The Headhunter: Reinventing the Interview to Win the Job" and the host of www.asktheheadhunter.com. He can be reached by e-mail at seattle@asktheheadhunter.com or at North Bridge Group, P.O. Box 600, Lebanon, NJ 08833. Sorry, no personal replies.